Does anybody know if Jerry or Bobby use ever used alternate tunings with the Dead? A fair few songs involve some slide guitar (Casey Jones, Little Red Rooster, Candyman, Althea etc.) but I can't really tell whether they are being played in standard or not. I'm fairly certain Althea and Casey Jones are played in stanard but I don't know about LLR or Candyman. I've never noticed Bobby or Jerry change guitars during a set (in video, never saw them live), so I suspect that the slide parts are played in standard tuning. Any insight would be appreciated.
I recall some bottom string re-tuning and capo action during the 1970 acoustic sets, but other than that, no, I think it was all standard tuning. (Might have been Pig doing the open tuning on the acoustic stuff.)
I loved the story Weir told about Joni Mitchell, how she used to put her guitars into weird open tunings and write songs and record them, then when she went on tour her band would have to teach her how to play her own material again in a standard tuning.
